During a conference of their union in Brighton, health care professionals voted on the motion. They reported that since 2008, real-term salary reductions have resulted in a 30 percent decline in income.
Delegates at the British Medical Association’s (BMA) annual conference in Brighton voted to urge ministers to approve the increase, which, according to the BMA, compensates for real-term salary cuts since 2008.
Some doctors who supported the motion cited the rail workers’ strike as an example of how public sector employees should negotiate pay with the current government.
Dr. Emma Runswick said as she presented the motion to the conference: “Pay restoration is the right, just, and moral thing to do, but it is significant demand and will not be easy to achieve.
“Each component of the BMA must develop a strategy for achieving this goal. However, I am not naive; I am aware that it is likely that industrial action will be necessary to sway the governments on this issue.”
She deemed it “outrageous” that doctors’ pay has been slashed by 30 percent, an amount that represents “millions of pounds” in lost earnings.
Dr. Runswick continued: “All around us, workers are banding together in trade unions and achieving significant victories: last month, bin men in Manchester won a 22 percent pay increase; Gatwick airport workers won a 21 percent pay raise two weeks ago; and in March, cleaners and porters at Croydon hospital won a 24 percent pay increase.
“These workers banded together and utilized a key tool that trade unions possess: the ability to collectively organize, collectively negotiate, and collectively withdraw our labor… vote for this motion and I’ll see you on the picket lines.”
NHS employees face “unmanageable workloads”
Doctors also urged MPs to address staff shortages to assist the NHS in dealing with record waiting lists, with one physician stating that “there is no rescue plan other than ‘work harder.”
Dr. Jacqueline Davies told delegates: “There is a solution to the backlog and the unmanageable workloads that NHS employees face.
“The NHS is experiencing record-breaking demand with no additional capacity. There is no rescue plan other than to “work harder” for the exodus of employees.
“We are aware that staff shortages result in serious incidents; however, who is to blame? We are responsible for the burden.”
The vice-chair of the BMA Council stated that even before the pandemic, waiting times were “too long” and have reached a “dangerous level” as a result of COVID’s increased demand.
“We have a record 6.5 million people waiting for treatment in England, as well as a significant ‘hidden backlog’ of people who have yet to seek care after the worst of the pandemic, or whose referrals were canceled,” Dr. David Wrigley said.
